The NHL draft is two weeks away, and Oiler fans have yet another lottery pick to ponder. Have you been reading up on it? Maybe running a You Tube video or two of past Oiler picks? Well, if you want a crash course on this year's edition, read on.

2010 seems like years ago (I mean MANY years ago) and for Edmonton's hockey fans the draft has turned into an all-too-familiar annual highlight. As a fan, I cannot wait for this team to draft 27th overall on merit. That day is at least one year away.

SOURCES

If you're interested in purchasing a draft guide, I would highly recommend Red Line Report and Corey Pronman at ESPN. Both are well written and have strong opinions, and both are different enough to be worthwhile. Historically, I have found Red Line to be more in line with the Oilers thinking on these things, but that's just my guess.

There are some outstanding sources available free of charge:

Cody Nickolet, WHL From Above. This is an outstanding resource for WHL prospects, Cody has a final list and a Mock Draft. Well written, and he also gives a range of where he believes these prospects will land.

Brock Otten, OHL Prospects. A terrific website that breaks down the best OHL kids, and that's a long list. Brock's evaluations are splendid and thorough, you'll walk away from the site with a really good feel for the entire OHL crop this season.

NHL.com has a nice spot where they collect stories and update things. I find it wise to spin through there every day or so for an update.

Elite Prospects This is a great place to read more about the European kids, often you'll get a very good bio from Future Considerations.

USA Today They run Woodlief (Red Line Report) articles but also have Kevin Allen and others who update during this period.

Kirk Luedeke, NY and NE Hockey Journal. Kirk does a wonderful job with USHL, college and eastern seaboard high school kids, and this is information that isn't readily available. Helluva nice guy, too.

Beyond that, I would suggest Oilers Nation and the other Nation families do stellar work, Jason Gregor has interviewed Stu MacGregor and Kyle Woodlief in recent weeks. I've passed along some statistical breakdowns on the top players in the draft over the last few weeks, and will be adding to those beginning this weekend.

If you're a fan of the draft, stay tuned! Fun days ahead!

Lowetide has been one of the Oilogosphere's shining lights for over a century. You can check him out here at OilersNation and at lowetide.ca. He is also the host of Lowdown with Lowetide weekday mornings 10-noon on TSN 1260.

Isn't Jason Spezza also big and skilled? Would you rather have Giroux or Bergeron than him? I will.

Not say LD is Jason Spezza #2. All I want to say is big and skilled means nothing if he doesn't have heart.

Yes, Spezza is big and skilled and in his prime I'd take him over Bergeron every day of the week as 1C simply because Spezza's offense vastly superior to Bergeron's. You can find a 2C to handle defensive duties a lot easier than you can find a guy who puts up pt/gm or more. Spezza had enough heart to get Ottawa to a Stanley Cup final. They didn't win but neither did Phi with Giroux and he had a much stronger supporting cast. Right now I'd take Giroux simply because he's younger and in his prime.

All 3 are outstanding players and ultimately it comes down to how they compliment the other players on the team.

Size/strength is focused on in Edm because that is what they lack. If all they had were 6'2" 220 lb power F we'd be focusing on acquiring a player like Eberle or Nuge.

I would say that 2011 looks promising for Flames. Sven, Little Granlund, Gaudreau, Wotherspoon, plus Brossoit who they turned into an NHL defenseman. Still lots to be seen but I feel like that looks like a solid 5/5 at some point down the line. I'm not predicting All Stars, but there is probably 4 NHL players there and 1 via trade.

Watch us draft Draisatl, turn into a slow lazy, unmotivated plug. While Calgary gets Bennet and he becomes Towes 2.0. Having the Flamers directly behind us is scary....

Or watch Draisaitl turn into the next Anze Kopitar and Bennett progress like Jonathan Huberdeau. The reality is no one in this draft is a sure bet. None would have gone top 5 last year. They all have deficiencies in their game which is why there is no consensus best player.

There is nothing scary about the Flames drafting behind the Oilers. At #4 Calgary will get a very good prospect regardless of who it is.

If anything, Calgary at #4 could be an opportunity for Edmonton. If Bennett or Reinhart are available at #3 but the Oilers prefer Draisaitl there is an opportunity to trade down and still get the guy they want.

The question becomes who does Calgary want as well as NYI and Van sitting at #5 and #6? If Ekblad, Reinhart and Bennett go 1-3 do you think Calgary takes Draisaitl? If not and NYI really want Bennett or Reinhart to play behind Tavares the Oilers could look at dropping back to #5 and possibly pick up a 2nd round pick or maybe a player like Josh Bailey or Cal Clutterbuck and still draft Draisaitl.

IMHO I think we need to find a second first round between 7-15 to draft Alex Tuch. 6'4" 215 lbs. Perhaps another lucic or Burns. This kid will be the steal of the draft. Now what can we do to acquire this next superpower forward.

I would say that 2011 looks promising for Flames. Sven, Little Granlund, Gaudreau, Wotherspoon, plus Brossoit who they turned into an NHL defenseman. Still lots to be seen but I feel like that looks like a solid 5/5 at some point down the line. I'm not predicting All Stars, but there is probably 4 NHL players there and 1 via trade.

Not finish last in west nearly every year.... Compete harder with a fraction of the talent.... And hiring Burke was a good move, the man knows how to build a team.

I love the comment Burke knows how to build teams, really what team did he build - that Toronto one that is about to be imploded ? The cup winning ducks team, I forgot that it is hard to entice one of the best d men in the league to come play with his brother (who both said wanted to play together) and one of the other best when he went to the media to demand a trade. Brian Murray built that team. What did he do in Vancouver besides getting the sedins, once again when they twisted the arms of all nhl teams stating they wanted to play together, that was Nonis's who built that team. The only thing that Burke can say he has done successfully is take advantage of giftwrappings. But yes he knows how to build a team.